Accuracy of Objective Analysis at Stratospheric Levels

Abstract

The observed geopotential heights and temperatures (corrected for radiation effects) at the 100-, 50-, 30-, and 10-mb levels from most of the Northern Hemisphere radiosonde stations were compared with objectively analyzed heights and temperatures for February 1969. The 1-mo average root-mean-square (rms) height differences ranged from 51 m at 100 mb to 139 m at 10 mb. The rms temperature differences increased from 1.1°C at 100 mb to 2.9°C at 10 mb. Similar statistics are presented for North America and for different types of instruments.